'First Fight' Sweeps Directors' Fortnight

'First Fight' Sweeps Directors' Fortnight

Article excerpt

Thomas Cailley's French drama scores hat-trick at the Cannes Film Festival sidebar.

First-time feature director Thomas Cailley has won three top prizes at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight with Love At First Fight (Les Combattants), a drama about a teenager falling for a tough young woman who is fixated on preparing for a state of war.

The film won the Europa Cinema Label, the SACD Prize and the Art Cinema Award.

It marks the 11th year Europa Cinemas has presented the prize in Cannes and comes with the support of the Europa Cinemas Network, with additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film's theatrical run.

INTERVIEW: Thomas Cailley, Love At First Fight

The jury said in its statement: "This is that rarity - a well-scripted and well-acted feelgood arthouse film.

"Thomas Cailley's debut feature has witty dialogue and the relationship between the man and the woman at the centre of the film is delightfully modern and free of cliché. …